Real Madrid are away at Valencia on Saturday and will be targeting an extension to their lead at the top of La Liga if at all possible. Carlo Ancelotti’s men are at Mestalla this weekend and currently lead the way ahead of Girona by six points while Los Che are up to ninth and closing on the European places.
It has been a long wait for Valencia to be in action again after a postponed game because of the recent fires so this one comes after a two-week break for the players. Ruben Baraja’s outfit have 10 wins, six draws and nine losses so far which does have them in the upper half of the table after last year’s 16th placed finish. Valencia have 24 points from a possible 36 at home with seven wins but are up against Real who have Spain’s best top flight away record with 30 points from a possible 39.
A 1-0 win over Sevilla last time out was earned by Luka Modric’s 81st minute goal and Los Blancos are doing this without key personnel in certain areas with Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao and David Alaba all long-term absentees. Valencia won this 1-0 last term but the game was marred by racist abuse of Vinicius Junior which will be a concern ahead of this one as it is his first time back at Mestalla since.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, March 2 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Mestalla — Valencia, Spain
- Watch: ESPN+ or ESPN Deportes
- Odds: Valencia +450; Draw +300; Real -167
Team news
Valencia: Thierry Correia is out while Diego Lopez is a doubt for Baraja who will hope to make minimum changes bar Javi Guerra potentially replacing Sergi Canos. Hugo Duro is in good form with 10 league goals and should pair with Roman Yaremchuk up top.
Potential Valencia XI: Mamardashvili; Foulquier, Diakhaby, Mosquera, Gaya; Perez, Pepelu, Guillamon, Guerra; Duro, Yaremchuk.
Real: Jude Bellingham is unlikely to be fit for this one and will target next week’s European games instead. Joselu, Militao, Alaba and Courtois are all out but Dani Carvajal and Eduardo Camavinga are back from suspension. Ancelotti could rest Toni Kroos with Camavinga returning while Bellingham should be replaced by Brahim Diaz behind Vini Jr. and Rodrygo.
Potential Real XI: Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Nacho, Mendy; Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Brahim; Rodrygo, Vinicius.
Prediction
Real should continue their march towards the Spanish title with a narrow win here. Valencia could hope to hold Los Blancos to a draw but a one-goal win sounds most likely for Ancelotti’s men. Pick: Valencia 1, Real 2.
